Our Bodies – Our Planet

“There is no separation between healing ourselves and healing the earth.”

This wise adage was shared at the commencement of a shamanic healing journey at a drum circle I attended several years ago. And its message has reverberated in my cellular memory ever since. As I pondered the many ills suffered by both humans and the earth, I realized the many ways they reflect back on each other. As we mistreat and malnourish and desecrate ourselves, we are often inflicting the same upon our environment, whether consciously, out of indifference, or even from a basic lack of awareness. And just as we discharge so many, many toxins onto and into the earth, we are ingesting an equally unprecedented number of toxins into our bodies. What we do to the planet and how we treat our own bodies are not only interconnected, but mirrored actions.

In particular, I would like to talk about one glaring “reflection” on this topic — the acidification of our waters. And when I say ‘our’ waters, I mean the 70% of fresh and salt water that covers our earth’s surface and the approximate 70% of water that makes up our human assemblage. We have been hearing much debate about global warming, and the eerie potential calamities that might arise — but less about what has been deemed global warming’s evil twin — acidification. Since the Industrial Revolution, our seas have become as much as 30 percent more acidic, a rate not observed in 300 million years. This has a wide range of consequences for marine and freshwater ecosystems, as well as for the billions of people who depend on the ocean, rivers, and lakes for food and survival. Water bodies are often treated by humans as a giant waste bin — a catch basin for discharged human produced waste — and are particularly prone to becoming polluted.

Healthy water bodies tend to be slightly alkaline, in the pH range of 6.5- 8.5 (on a pH scale of 1-14 with lower values being more acidic and higher values being more alkaline) and the EPA sets similar pH standards for drinking water. Healthy human blood needs an alkaline pH of about 7.4. Yet the acidification of our lakes, rivers, streams, and even oceans is heavily on the rise — a detriment to plants and animals and the ecosystem as a whole. And in some cases, even our treated drinking water may have a lower pH than what might be considered optimally healthy. One way to remedy this is to keep a container of water with fresh lemon slices in it that help alkalize your drinking water.

As for our human bodies, a diet heavy in acid-forming foods — namely meat, dairy, sugar, and processed foods — has been theorized to lead to higher rates of chronic diseases. Conversely, greater consumption of fresh organic fruits, vegetables, and legumes are more alkaline, and less inflammatory. Furthermore, our conventional industrial agricultural complex produces contaminated runoff that leaches into our waterways, which also increases nitrogen loading, a significant source of water body acidification. Compounding effects of industrial farming also include toxic pesticide exposure to farm workers and the ongoing inhumane practices that breed toxicity in our meat and dairy products. An acidic palate breeds an acidic planet.

But beyond the physical ramifications of toxic chemical compounds, there exists an even greater surreptitious source of acidity — the toxic load of negative emotions. Negative thoughts can create 2-3 times more metabolic acids than the ingestion of acid-forming foods. Think about someone who is bitter, sour, acerbic, or who has an acrid disposition. When we hold on to these negative emotions, it can eat away at our insides, like acid in a can. In turn, feelings of peace, hope, forgiveness, compassion, and love activate an alkaline buffering system that can neutralize an acidic temperament — and environment.

When we look into a pool of water, what do we see but our own self staring back. And if we don’t feel good about our self-image, we may inflict harm or neglect. Most people are dealing with a lot of challenges and may also be carrying a heavy load of emotional baggage. Even the mythological Narcissus might be less than enamored with his own reflection in this day and age.

When confronted with or internalizing negative emotions, we are more likely to disregard and desecrate our bodies, and in turn our emotional selves may reflect those negative energies back out to all those around us. When we swirl in caustic emotions, we poison ourselves and those close by. In turn, these waves of upset and rancor ripple out far and wide.

Yet when we take care of and care for ourselves, our personal compassion actually creates energetic waves of calm and care to others — and to our planet. When we nourish our spirit with healthy food, and our bodies with good spiritedness, we also feed the spirit of Mother Earth. And in turn, Mother earth produces cleaner, healthier biota on which we feed our bodies. A cycle of health is reflected back onto the land, the water, and all living beings.

Thus, the acidification of our earth’s waters may ultimately be a reflection of our unhealthy inner world — physical, emotional, and spiritual. As we attempt to heal the planet, the first step actually may be to heal our physical, emotional, and spiritual inner body. If we choose to heal ourselves, we in turn may support the healing of the world around us. As above, so below — and as within, so without.

Hopefully, more and more people are waking up to the understanding that humans and the earth are inextricably connected. Or what I really mean to say is . . . inseparable. And through this inseparable link, the potential for even the smallest ripples of healing is reflected outwardly and magnified on many levels.